Battle Ravage - Alternators - FigureI found Alternators Battle Ravage last night while browsing at Target. The original character was named Ravage of course, so this fellow is another victim of trademark loss/change by Hasbro, though I have to say that adding ‘battle’ before his name is a good compromise, so that Ravage remains at least part of his proper name. In that respect he’s fared better than Jazz, who lost his original name completely!
As an aside, some people may be able to be detached when forming an opinion about Alternators and look at them as just a new figure to be judged only on it’s own merits. I have years-old associations with names and characters, so the original G1 figure is always in mind when I’m critiquing an update of a figure.
Vehicle mode is, no doubt, a major upgrade for the former cassette tape. He’s a speedy, shiny, black Corvette convertible with chrome rims and red seats. This is of course a remold of Alternator Tracks, and it is a sharp looking car. It’s possible to appreciate the interior detail far more than on Tracks, since it can now be seen. And I also greatly appreciate the nod to the fans in the form of the license plate, which reads RVG.
Robot mode is where this particular Alternator starts to not work very well for me. Because, despite the nicely thought-out back story from Binaltech about this being Ravage/X-9 from Beast Wars rebuilt, I still think what I thought when I first saw the pictures: it’s a cat head stuck on a humanoid body. It jars badly. I hope that this is the only figure of it’s kind. I’d rather not have Laserbeak as a Prowl remold with a bird head. As a one-off Ravage is tolerable.
Despite that, it’s still a good figure in all other respects. The colors are outstanding. The glossy black matched with the metallic red is a very effective color scheme. The head sculpt is very nice, especially with the opening mouth and tiny teeth on the bottom jaw. Articulation is good, and the figure is fairly stable. The Decepticon insignia is very prominent and the largest I’ve seen on any Alternator so far. Ravage is certainly still proud of his allegiance. The twin missile launchers are still present, and I’ve chosen to place them down around Ravage’s hips so as to reference the original toy more closely, and to differentiate him a bit more from Tracks.
Judging from the opinions on several message boards, I’m one of the few who isn’t terribly enthusiastic about Battle Ravage. If you have Tracks, you’re not missing much if you skip Ravage. If not, you should get him despite the oddness of the robot mode, because the vehicle is excellent and the robot mode is good, however strange the concept.
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(7 out of 10) 
Link to TFormers.com
